Abstract
Mechanoreceptor cells produce a single or sustained impulse responding sensitively to certain kinds of mechanical stimuli. To understand their mechanisms and to apply them to mechanoelectric device, a model system consisting of a synthetic lipid, i. e., dioleylphosphate (DOPH), absorbed in a Millipore filter and an electrolyte solution was studied applying constant pressure stimuli. It is already dy known that the system exhibits a sustained variation of membrane potential responding to electric stimulus. However, a sustained variation with a pressure stimulus has not been reported yet in this system. Our studies have revealed that, when absorbed quantity of DOPH in the filter is between 4.9 and 7.6 mg/cm2, the system produces a sustained variation of membrane potential during application of constant pressure stimulus. The frequency of the oscillation also was proportional to the change in pressure within a limited range. The phenomenon was considered to come from the conformational change of DOPH molecules.
